


A Thief at Hand

by thenerdyindividual



Category: Kingsman (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Mob, Domestic Violence, Implied Harry Hart | Galahad/Gary "Eggsy" Unwin/Merlin, M/M, Mob Boss Harry, Thief Eggsy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 07:47:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19268860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thenerdyindividual/pseuds/thenerdyindividual
Summary: The enterprising Dean Baker has started butting into Kingsman territory. While it would be fairly easy for the Kingsman to wipe out his network it would be messy and expensive. So they host a peace summit in the hopes of distributing territory enough to keep Baker out of their hair. In the process, a young thief is traded over to Kingsman.





	1. Chapter 1

It’s a rare sunny day in London. The fog has temporarily lifted, leaving only the occasional grey cloud to drift across the sun.

In a dusty warehouse on the outskirts of the city, two groups of men gather. The men are mismatched. One group is dressed to the nines, bespoke suits and styled hair. They take pride in their appearances. The other group of men take pride in their appearances as well, only differently. Instead they dress down. Jeans or trackies, garish shirts and jackets. They lean into what people expect of them.

Three men step forward, dust moats stirring in their wake. The man in the jeans flops inelegantly onto a chair, legs spread wide, taking up space because he can and not because he needs too. One of the other men, tall, dark hair immaculate, settles neatly on his own char. He takes up exactly the space he needs, no posturing necessary. The third man is clearly his second in command, and stands just behind the dark haired man. His hawk like features even more pronounced as he scans the crowd for signs of trouble.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Baker.” The dark haired-man greets.  
“Why so formal Harry? We’re here for peace ain’t we? May as well be friends.” Mr. Baker responds.  
Harry sighs a bit but he knows better than to let himself be baited into any kind of conflict, “Very well then Dean. As you said, we have come to negotiate a truce between our businesses. I am prepared to make a territory offer that is quite generous.”  
Dean sniffs disinterestedly and shifts a bit in his chair, “Go on then. What do you got?”  
“While my team prefers to maintain our control of a vast majority of our holdings we are willing to give you a chance to expand your business. For example, while my business does not work in the drug trade, I am aware that yours does,” Harry states, “We would give you control of the domestic shipping from the port. You could spread your product far and wide.”

Dean seems to consider this proposal for a moment, and nods, “Expand our territory without bumping into yours, pretty clever. Give me two piers for international shipping. We ain’t ready to ship overseas but we’re not far off. Could be useful.”

“One pier.” Harry says flatly.  
“Fine. One pier. But then I’d like a block in the touristy parts. Could sell some primo shit out of those little souvenir corner shops,” Dean demands.  
Harry considers the offer, “It will take time for me to decide which block to give you but that can be arranged.”  
“And I want—“  
Harry cuts him off, “Need I remind you that the truce is far more for your benefit than mine? True, it was rather expensive to keep beating off your dogs every time they came sniffing but your business is already crumbling. I was and still am prepared to wait out what little you’ve scraped together. Do yourself a favor and do not ruin these negotiations by being greedy.”

“Fair is fair,” Dean says through gritted teeth, clearly not a man used to losing, “Gotta give you an act of faith before I make more demands. I know you lot love counterfeit goods even if people wearing ‘em make your skin crawl. Big industry in my neighborhood. What if I gave you permission to run that through part of the estates?”  
“Much appreciated. That would supplement our funds quite nicely.”  
“Right. Now what I was saying before was I want control of one the posh clubs you run. New demographic for us, maybe see if we can make it work.”  
“Not an outrageous suggestion but one that will require another act of good faith as you so eloquently put it, I’m afraid. We helped establish many of the clubs on this side of London.”  
“We ain’t got much territory left to give you Harry,” Dean says. His eyes are narrowed, clearly thinking through his act of trade, “Alright then. Tell you what, you can have Eggsy.”  
“Eggsy? What’s an Eggsy?” Harry asks, suddenly confused.

A young at the back of the room uncrosses his arms at Dean’s announcement, and is glaring so hard at the man’s head it’s like he’s trying to shoot lasers from his eyes. Dean either doesn’t notice or doesn’t care. He glances over his shoulder and beckons the young man over. The young man steps forward but it’s with such a mulish expression Harry is surprised anyone can ignore it.

“This is Eggsy.” Dean announces and gestures to the young man.  
“Not to be rude,” Harry says politely. “But I am hardly interested in adopting one of your lap dogs.”  
“He ain’t a lap dog. More like a feral cat, hey Muggsy?” Dean asks, “He’s the best thief we got.”  
“If he is the best thief you have then why trade him to me?”  
“Frankly, I’m hoping you and your man,” here he jerks his chin in Merlin’s direction, “Can knock some sense into the bastard. Insists on working freelance, barely brings in enough to cover the cost of feeding him. Given your, let’s call ‘em tastes, thought a pretty young man with a bit of an attitude might spice things up.”

Harry takes a bit of offense to that. He and Merlin are quite happy in their marriage thank you. They don’t need a young man good at sucking cock invading their bedroom.

Still he is quite nice to look at. Strong jaw, clear blue eyes that are dark with anger, blonde hair just peeking out of his cap. Perhaps he and Merlin can admire him like a piece of art.

What interests him more though, is the thieving. A skill for getting into and out of places now that could come in handy.

“If he barely covers the costs of his upkeep, what makes you think I would want to take him? Disregarding the comment about mine and my husband’s taste, of course.”  
“Because when you do finally get him to bring in a score it lasts for months.”

Harry takes another look at the young man. He’s gazing back at Harry as well, no doubt trying to suss out what kind of man he is. Clever boy.

“Very well. We’ll take him,” Harry agrees, “Can we take this to mean negotiations are ended and the truce can be sealed?”  
“Got most of what I wanted. Enough to keep me from sending boys in to your space anyway.”

Harry raises from his seat as does Dean. They meet in the center of the floor and shake hands. Harry silently gives this truce less than a year before it fizzles out. Everyone separates out and heads back for their cars.

“Oi, Muggsy. Where do you think you’re going?” Harry glances over his shoulder to see the young man he was promised trying to wander off with the rest of Dean’s men.  
“To the car.”  
“Not to our cars. You’re with them now.”

Eggsy tenses, broad shoulders drawn tight around his ears. He pivots on his heel and stalks back across the warehouse floor to the entrance Harry used to enter. Empty beer cans and other rumble skittering away from his feet.

Well, he and Merlin are in for a trial.

The car ride back is silent and thick with the anger radiating off of Eggsy. He refuses to meet Harry’s eyes. If Merlin looked up from his iPad at any point, Harry has no doubt that Eggsy would avoid eye contact with him as well.

*

Eggsy isn’t exactly surprised when Dean pulls his bullshit. Eggsy has spent enough time with the fucker to know that he was going to do something like this in the meeting. Although is he’s being honest, he didn’t think it would be with him. Ever since Eggsy got good at thieving Dean has mostly left him alone. He can’t risk his most skilled dog after all.

Tides change though and it seems as if the Kingsman threat was something Dean actually took seriously for once. Eggsy had expected Dean to offer Harry Hart something like a small portion of their profits, but no. Dean had to go and offer Eggsy up like some kind of sacrificial lamb.

So here he is, sitting in the back seat of a car with London’s premier fucking mobster. Eggsy takes comfort in two things. The first is that, despite being able to hide his reaction to someone as stupid as Dean, Harry seemed confused as to what he was supposed to do with Eggsy. Clearly he took no pleasure in being handed Eggsy to handle. The second is that Harry and Merlin are married, and Merlin seems to be ignoring Eggsy all together. If they were planning on doing something untoward they would have been far more focused on Eggsy. He’s dropped off at buyers’ enough time to know exactly when an old man wants to get his rocks off.

The car weaves its way through the streets of London. It soon leaves behind the neighborhoods Eggsy has spent his whole life in, his home turf a distant blur in the car mirrors. The car keeps driving for what seems like hours but is probably only twenty minutes, and it pulls up in front of a tidy little townhouse.

Harry plucks Merlin’s tablet out of Merlin’s hands, and the man seems to surface back to reality. Both men slide elegantly out of the car and proceed up the stairs to their front door. Eggsy trails behind them, feeling like a lost puppy the whole way. He wonders how long they’ll keep him around. He can’t see them wanting to pay for housing for him, but he also can’t see them letting him return to the estates or having him stay with them.

He closes the front door behind himself and hovers awkwardly in the entryway. He isn’t sure if he’s supposed to follow them or not. He gets his answer when Hart calls for him from the kitchen. He and Merlin are leaning up against the kitchen counter, Merlin’s nose is once again buried in his tablet.

Harry focuses his attention on Eggsy, “Well. I think it’s safe to say neither of us were expecting this turn of events” he says lightly.  
“Nope. Didn’t really think I’d get handed over to the enemy as a part of territory negotiations like we’re in Game of Thrones.”  
Harry smiles a bit at that, “No. We certainly were not prepared to receive guests either. However I wish to avoid an all-out war with Dean. Wars do get rather expensive, people to pay, police to bribe. So for the foreseeable future it appears as though we are stuck together.”  
“Joy.” Eggsy responds sarcastically, earning another flash of smile from Harry.

Eggsy hops up to sit on the edge of the counter. Their kitchen is all dark counter tops and white wood cupboards. It’s sleek in a way the rest of the house is not, from what Eggsy could see from the entry way. His feet dangle in the air as he glances around the room.

“You lot know he wants me to spy on you right?”  
“Yes. But it would be most appreciated if you did not. Having to leave the room every time we discuss business will become a huge fucking pain.”  
Eggsy just shrugs at him.  
“Our guest room is always set up. It may be a bit dusty but it seems like it should work for the time being. Is there anything you would like to pick up from home? I can spare Merlin for the afternoon.”

The mention of his name draws Merlin’s attention away from his tablet. His brow is furrowed just slightly. Eggsy didn’t get a good look at the men when he was in the warehouse, and looking at them now they seem a bit mismatched. Where Harry is all suave charm and proper looking in his tailored suit, Merlin is sharp angles and spindly fingers. They must work together though. Eggsy has been hearing about them since Dean came into his life at thirteen, nearly twelve years ago. They were probably together long before that as well.

“Why do I have to do the babysitting? I am working on getting that contract ye so desperately want.” Merlin says  
“Because the contract isn’t due for another month, and I have a… meeting to attend to this afternoon.” Harry responds  
“Fine but ye have to take the next round.”  
Harry rolls his eyes and turns back to Eggsy, “Now that that is settled, is there anything you would like to pick up? Clothes? Photos? Perhaps food you like for the fridge.”  
At Eggsy’s frown of confusion, Merlin asks, “Something bothering ye lad?”  
“Nah. It’s just, how come you lot are being so nice to me? Figured you’d want me out of your hair or,” he pauses and takes an obvious look at Merlin’s bald head, “space I guess.”  
“Yes, so clever. As if ye are the first to make a bald joke.” Merlin says  
“You are not a prisoner Eggsy,” Harry responds, “You have effectively become part of the team. Besides I don’t think Dean would take kindly to us treating you poorly.”  
“Don’t think he’d give a shit to be honest. But yeah. I’d like to pick up some stuff from home if that’s okay.”

If they time it right Dean will be down at the black prince celebrating. He can get a chance to say goodbye to Daisy and his mum. Fuck he’s going to miss them more than anything.

“Very well. What time would you like to go?”  
Eggsy checks the time on his phone, “Now would be good if you can swing it. Dean won’t be back yet.”  
“Why would Dean’s location be important?” Merlin asks  
“He’s my stepdad.”

*  
Despite all odds, Harry is charmed. Eggsy is a mouthy obnoxious git no doubt about it but Harry has lived with Merlin for almost twenty years so he’s used to gits. Eggsy’s brunt honesty coupled with the way he seems to just use a space as he sees fit in the moment, amuses Harry to no end.

Stepdad. Now that explains why Eggsy seemed so furious when the trade was announced. His own stepfather pawned him off. Although by Eggsy’s earlier comment about Dean not caring how he was treated, Harry suspects perhaps most of the reason Eggsy was so angry was that this was yet another indignity piled on by a man meant to protect him. Harry feels a slight twinge of guilt at admiring Eggsy in the warehouse.

“Ah. Well. Now it is. Why don’t you head out to wait by the car? I have some things I would like to discuss with Merlin before you leave.”

Eggsy just shrugs, hops down from the counter, and heads out for the car. It gives Harry a moment to collect his thoughts. Judging by Merlin’s expression, he’s thinking much the same.

“And people thought ye were a piece of shite.” Merlin says  
“Doing the things we do does not exactly give us a ticket to heaven but I wouldn’t even think of trading a team member, let alone my own step son.”  
“Well we all knew that Baker’s organization was far more mismanaged than yours. Seems like this just proves it.”  
“Our organization,” Harry corrects automatically, “But you’re right. Keep an eye on Eggsy. He doesn’t seem to have much loyalty to Baker and it would not surprise me if the man sought this bargain as an excuse to kill him. And if Eggsy’s thieving skills are as legendary as Baker implied then I intend to make full use of those skills.”  
“Understood.”

*  
Eggsy is still waiting by the car when Merlin emerges from the house. He had half-expected the lad to run away. Instead he is leaning casually against the driver’s side door, waiting. He straightens up as Merlin approaches and stretches out a hand.

“Keys?”  
“Why would I let ye drive?”  
“Because I actually know where I’m going?” Eggsy responds.  
“Ye can navigate. Passenger’s seat.”

Eggsy rolls his eyes but does what Merlin tells him to. He climbs into the passenger seat and buckles in. They drive back the way they came across London with Eggsy occasionally murmuring directions to Merlin who finds himself irritated at how inefficient it was to drive across London twice when they could have stopped to let Eggsy pack a go bag on their way back home.

They pull up in front of concrete apartment building in the estates. The best Merlin can say about it is that it is cleaner than other parts of the estates he’s visited on business. He parks and Eggsy hops out of the car. Merlin follows close behind which rubs Eggsy the wrong way because he pauses mid-stride to turn and look at Merlin.

“Why’re you following me?”  
“Harry told me that I needed to stick close by. He doesn’t want ye to run off or be chased off before he can give ye an assignment.”

Eggsy rolls his eyes and turns back around. He jogs up the stairs, while digging through his pockets for his keys. He fishes them out right as he reaches his front door and lets himself inside.

The inside of the flat is still but left with the impressions of chaos. The sofa is stained. Empty beer bottles litter almost every surface. The yellow paint for the walls must have been cheerful at one point but have since turned the color of what Merlin thinks dried phlegm must look like.

Eggsy disappears around a corner and Merlin moves to follow him. Something depresses beneath his foot with an almighty wheeze. He startles back and realizes it’s some kind of children’s toy. As he looks more closely there are touches for a child here and there, tucked under the edges of a table or hidden behind a stack of boxes of stolen merchandise.

Merlin follows Eggsy back to his room. Tucked in the corner is a little playpen, Eggsy is babbling at the occupant. When Merlin steps closer he sees a little girl who can’t be much older than one blinking sleepily at Eggsy, as though trying to fight a nap. Eventually though she does settle back down with a sigh and goes back to sleep.

“Who is that?” Merlin asks softly, trying not to disturb her.  
“My little sister,” Eggsy answers still staring at the sleeping girl, “Gonna miss her living with you. But sleeping through the night without a screaming baby will be nice.”  
“What’s her name?”  
“Daisy.”

Eggsy moves away from the playpen and starts cramming stuff into a duffel bag. He picks a few trinkets here and there, but mostly he goes for clothes. After about ten minutes, he calls it good enough. He drops one last kiss on Daisy’s forehead then leads Merlin back into the living room.

A woman with dark circles under her eyes emerges from the other bedroom and smiles when she sees Eggsy.

“What are you doing home? I thought Dean said you had errands to run.”  
“Yeah, mum. I’m almost done. I’m staying with friends for a bit so I came to pack a bag before I left.”  
Eggsy’s mum eyes Merlin distrustfully. Given the company her husband keeps, he doesn’t blame her.

“How long are you staying with them for?”  
“Don’t know yet but they’re in London so I’ll still come to visit.”

He drops a quick kiss on her cheek and ushers Merlin back outside to the car. He collapses in the seat with a sigh and buckles in. He stays silent on the drive home. He stays silent while Merlin directs him to the guest room. 

*

Merlin and Harry come to his door several times over the next few days, trying to coax him out. He emerges long enough to eat but he has a lot to think about so he doesn't say much. 

The men seem off put by the abrupt change in attitude. They were expecting Eggsy to be as obnoxious as when he first arrived. Now that he seems to have gone silent, Eggsy catches them exchanging meaningful glances across the table.

Despite what Dean may think, Eggsy is no fool. Even when Eggsy has done something monumentally stupid, he’s seen the writing on the wall well ahead of time. It just meant that the stupid thing was the best of a series of shit outcomes. 

The situation he finds himself in now has potential to change his life. He just needs to think through how to get to the scenario he wants. The Harts seemed pretty confident that this war would not have ended far worse for Dean than themselves. That must mean they’re powerful because Eggsy doesn’t think these men with their calculating eyes would be the kind swamped with false confidence.

All Eggsy wants, all he’s ever wanted, is Dean gone and his family Safe. It occurred to him as he was staring at the dead butterflies on the wall one night during dinner, that he was sitting with possibly the only people who could make that happen.

He’s been staying with them for close to a week when he finally comes up with an agreement he thinks will suit everyone just fine.

He approaches Merlin and Harry over their drink before bed. Harry is reading a newspaper. Merlin has his nose buried in a tech manual. They glance up as Eggsy enters the room.

“When you told Dean the deal you made was because you didn’t want the expense and bloodshed of the war not because he was close to winning, how true was that?”

The question seems to take Merlin and Harry by surprise. They stare at him blankly for a moment.

“Fairly true,” Harry responds finally, “His organization is mismanaged. He’s so focused on growing for his own ego that he has created instability in his ranks. Why?”  
“I want to make a deal of my own.” Eggsy announces, and hopes his following gamble will pay off.  
“One separate from your stepfather’s?”  
“Yeah. I got a little sister and a mum I need to watch out for. With me here they ain’t got anyone to protect them. I want you to give them protection when you take Dean down.”  
“What makes ye think we’re interested in taking him down?” Merlin asks  
“Harry said the war’s gotten expensive. I figure you’re gonna want to gain some of that money back. If Dean’s organization is unstable like you said you can just wait for the right time to tip it over. Then his territory is all yours.”  
“What would we get for holding up our end of the bargain?” Harry asks

Eggsy’s fingers flex against his side. He can’t believe he’s saying this.

“I’m on your team. All the way. I’ll steal whatever shit you want as long as my sister and mum are guaranteed safety at the end.”  
“That is a dangerous bargain and you don’t even know if we will keep up our end.”  
“Yeah I do.”  
“And how is that?”  
“You’re gentlemen, through and through. You keep your word.”

Merlin and Harry glance at each other. They communicate silently like most married couples can do. Merlin inclines his head just slightly and Harry looks back to Eggsy.  
“Then I believe we have an agreement.” he responds and holds his hand out for Eggsy to shake.


	2. Chapter 2

“How was the meeting with Councilman Fredericks?” Merlin asks without looking up from his tablet.

Harry lets out a dramatic sigh and pours himself a few fingers of scotch, before finally settling into the arm chair across from Merlin in their shared office. Harry always claimed it was too ostentatious for them to have two offices but in truth he just likes being able to work elbow to elbow with his husband. Newspaper clippings cover the wall; one bit of celebrity nonsense for every deal they’ve made to change the face of London.

“Not well I’m afraid. He considers himself loyal to those he represents,” Harry takes a sip of his scotch, “Admirable if he didn’t represent the wealthiest district in London. As if he’s a man of the people.”  
“Ye do realize we are some of the wealthiest men in London, derision might be hypocritical.”  
“Yes but we’re far more like Robin Hood,” Harry states but withers a bit under Merlin’s stare, “We may not give to the poor but we try not to fuck them over. Unlike Fredericks who wants to gentrify half of London.”  
“Don’t play-act benevolent, it doesn’t suit you,” Merlin says dryly, “Just tell me if you want this deal or to make an example of Fredericks.”

Harry is quiet for a moment as he mulls over his options. On one hand having Merlin leak incriminating emails would help sway other councilmembers to Harry’s side. On the other the reelection bid for Fredericks’ seat would take ages and by then the opportunity for this deal may have long passed.

“I think it’s high time we have Eggsy prove his worth.”

*

“You want me to what?” Eggsy asks and his eyes are almost comically wide.   
“As we said, we want ye to break into Councilman Fredericks’ home office and copy the contents of his hard drive.” Merlin pushes the flash drive across the coffee table to Eggsy.   
“If he’s a councilman who does a lot of work from home ain’t that going to take ages? Number one rule of thieving is you don’t stay long enough to get caught.”

Merlin feels his eyes twitch and has to take a calming breath. Despite his promise of being all in Eggsy is putting up a tremendous amount of fight when actually asked to do something. 

“Surely a thief of your skills can manage it.”  
“Not if I have to hide out for three hours while he’s home. Won’t do any good if I’m in jail mate.”  
“So, what? Ye won’t do it?”

Eggsy seems to contemplating for a second, eyes narrowed as he searches the air for divine inspiration. After a moment he nods. 

“You’re like the tech expert here yeah? Designed all the software that keeps Kingsman up and running?”  
“I planned on starting my own firm before I married Harry, yes. Why?”  
“We gotta get him outta the house long enough for me to copy his files. I say we start by getting access to his search history. You know how to do a phishing email?”  
“It’s fairly simple.” Merlin admits through gritted teeth.   
“Then you gain access to the computer and I’ll help find something that will keep him out of the house,” Eggsy says, “Plus with remote access to his emails and search history I don’t gotta copy that shit and it’ll save me time. Narrow my window a bit.”

It’s a good idea. Clearly Baker wasted his opportunity to have a clever man like this at his right hand. Idiot. 

“Are ye always this cocky?” Merlin asks as he opens his laptop to start concotting the necessary email and false web page.  
“Only when I’m casing a place to rob.” Eggsy says cheekily and sits on the other chair in the office, the one usually reserved for Harry.  
“Ye seem to take this thieving business seriously.”  
“Yeah well Dean was a moron. He was always pushing me to go after shit that needed planning but he wouldn’t give me time for planning. Wanted it now, didn’t he?” Eggsy says with a shrug and kicks his feet up onto the dark wood of the desk, “It’s why I was ‘freelance’. As long as contributed a bit from whatever I was hired to do then it kept him off my back, and gave me time to bring in a score he wanted.”

Merlin frowns and shoves Eggsy’s feet off the table. Baker truly was an idiot. Eggsy, for as loud mouth and cocky as he may be, does not strike Merlin as one to brag. Meaning Eggsy’s “scores” were as lucrative as promised. It bodes well for their partnership.

“Leave. I can nae focus on coding with your jacket in my eyesight.” Merlin grumps.  
Eggsy stands, drawing himself up in an offended huff, “Oi. This jacket is designer.”  
“Designer does not mean good.” 

The jacket really is awful. Stark white in the way only polyester can be, with a garish neon yellow horizontal stripe wrapping around Eggsy at about chest level. It makes the orange walls in the office almost soothing in comparison.

It takes about twenty four hours for Councilman Fredericks to click on the link. Thankfully Harry hadn’t managed to draw Merlin into bed yet by the time it happens so Merlin is able to start downloading the emails and search history to an external drive right away. Eggsy better be right about this being their way in otherwise Merlin will kick his arse to kingdom come for the strain it is putting on the desktop.

*

“Wait wait. Hang on. I think I got it.” Eggsy announces and shoves the paper across the desk at Merlin. The fact that a third chair was added to the office goes unmentioned by Eggsy.

Merlin looks up from his own stack of paper and it takes a moment for his eyes to focus in on Eggsy. He picks up the offered piece of paper and reads the section highlighted.

“I don’t see how this helps us.”

For successfully running a dangerous criminal enterprise, Merlin and Harry can be quite thick. For Eggsy it is spelled out plain as day.

“He has a dog.”  
“What? Are ye suggesting we kidnap his dog to teach him a lesson?”  
“Fuck no! Jesus Merlin!”

Merlin just gives him an exasperated look. The glasses truly highlight the glare. Maybe Eggsy shouldn’t have re-worn the highlighter jacket just to annoy him but the ship has sailed for that decision.

“His dog is our way in. I go around the neighborhood the week before and knock on doors, tell everyone I am a dog walker in the area looking to expand business.”  
“Won’t that make ye too visible? People will remember you.”  
“It’s what I’m counting on mate. Hear me out…”

*

The first person to open her door is frail little woman who looks like she is avoiding the grave by the skin of her teeth. Judging by the fact her garden is nearly to the point of covering her front walkway, Eggsy bets she doesn’t get many visitors. Shame that. Her house is nice. A good deal smaller than the rest, white washed with turquoise trim.

“If you’re trying to sell magazine subscriptions young man, I will chase you out.” she stomps her cane, menacingly on the ground.  
“No nothing like that mam.” Eggsy says using a strong Irish accent, “Actually I am a dog walker in the neighborhood and I was hoping to pick up a few more clients since a few moved away. Any chance you might be in need?”  
She softens a bit and shakes her head, “Not me. You came to the right neighborhood though. Their barking keeps me up at night. Maybe some extra walks will do some good.”

Eggsy moves on to the next house. This one is larger than the last and painted an awful beige color. Why rich people want everything to be drab when they have the opportunity to be as loud as they want without consequence, Eggsy will never understand.

A woman in a maid’s uniform opens the door to the house. She towers over Eggsy by at least four inches and has just truly massive arms.

“What do you want?” her accent sounds vaguely eastern european.  
“Hi. I am a dog walker in the area,” Eggsy says Irish accent still strong and it seems to put her at ease a bit, “I was hoping maybe the homeowner would be here so I could discuss walking their dogs.”  
“Mr. Morris is gone until tuesday. I could give him your card.”  
Fuck. First wrench in the plan. No cards.  
“I don’t actually have a card. Maybe I could write my name and number on a piece of paper?”

The housekeeper disappears for a moment and returns with scrap paper and a pen. Eggsy scrawls out a fake name and illegible phone number, then moves on. He abandons his quest momentarily and heads to the nearest office supply store.

He returns about an hour later with business cards all printed up. They look like a kid made them, complete with a little cartoon dog in the corner but hey they give him plausible deniability at houses where the owners aren’t home. He spends the next half an hour canvassing the neighborhood around Councilman Fredericks’ house, handing out business cards and using a fake accent all the while.

Two weeks later, he returns for phase two of the plan. It is the middle of the day on a Wednesday, so Councilman Fredericks is at the office. No one is home.

Eggsy makes a big show of running up the steps to the councilman’s house, and trying a key in the lock. He swears loudly when, as expected, the key to Harry and Merlin’s does not work in the councilman’s door.

Then he rushes to the back door to try the key there. Still no luck, obviously. So he runs back to the front door and tries the key again. Again no luck. The whole time Councilman Fredericks’ dog is barking like mad. Eggsy keeps replying to it in a worried Irish accent.  
“I know pup. I know. I’m trying.”

After a good five minutes of this he pulls out his phone and pretends to call someone. He is the picture of anxiety, pacing back and forth on the brick stoop at the front of Fredericks’ house. When “nobody picks up” Eggsy curses again and pretends to redial. At which point he gets another no answer. 

At that point Eggsy resorts to his last choice, asking the neighbors for help. They all remember him but none of them know where Councilman Frederick’s kees his spare key. That is just fine with Eggsy. After asking the last neighbor for help and getting no response he jogs back across the street. 

He’d picked the ideal entry point the last time he was here. Kitchen window. It is a bit of a tight squeeze but it is the only one without a lock and nothing to knock over. Plus once he’s through he’ll be perched in the sink so if the dog turns out to not have that signature golden retriever friendliness the sink helps shield Eggsy from being bitten.

He pries open the window and then squeezes himself through. Thankfully, the dog does have that golden retriever friendliness. Once she figures out Eggsy isn’t there to hurt her she jumps on him, tongue lolling out, tail wagging. Eggsy always wanted a dog but Dean would never let him have one. He wonders if maybe Harry and Merlin could be persuaded into letting him get one but quickly dismisses that as ridiculous. He’s a tolerated house guest, not a partner or even a roommate.

He searches all the rooms on the first floor but other than the kitchen and the bedroom, there isn’t much. Eggsy jogs up the stairs and finds what he’s looking for. The home office. He wakes up the desktop and inputs the password Councilman Fredericks’ used when he signed in after clicking on Merlin’s link.

Thankfully, like most people, Fredericks’ uses the same password on all of his accounts including his home terminal. He plugs the drive into the computer and runs the copy dialogue Merlin showed him. The estimate is that the copy will be completed in about half an hour.

As a commitment to his story, Eggsy heads back downstairs with Layla the golden retriever. He takes a quick photo of how all of the doggy supplies are set up so he can put it all back exactly how it was before and hooks her up to her leash. He leaves the front door unlocked behind him so he can get back inside when he needs to, then simply takes Layla for a walk.

By the time he gets back, the contents of Councilman Fredericks’ computer is uploaded onto the drive. He lets Layla off leash, refills her water bowl since she’s panting like crazy from all the excitement, and puts the leash and harness back in exactly the same way he found out it. He closes the kitchen window and then walks out the front door with no one any the wiser to what he just did.

*

“Well done Eggsy.” Harry says and Eggsy thinks he maybe sees a twinkle in the man’s eye.  
“Told you I was all in.” Eggsy says with a casual shrug.  
“Still. This took an extraordinary amount of planning and creativity,” Harry praises and yup he’s definitely impressed. Eggsy can tell, “Keep this up and you’ll put us in your debt.”  
Eggsy bounces on his toes a bit, fighting back the pleased grin trying to work its way onto his face, “I’m good at what I do. If this is what I can do with a last minute request imagine what I can do if you give me time.”  
Harry’s mouth twitches in an approving almost smile, eyes dark behind his glasses, “I have no doubt we will learn to use your talents properly in the future.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Your cut.” Harry announces and hands over a small bundle of cash to Eggsy.  
The young man’s eyes widen in shock as he takes it, “Cut of what?”  
“Your infiltration of Fredericks’ home six weeks ago meant we just received a large influx of income. It is only fair that the person who made that possible is rewarded.”

Eggsy is holding the cash like it’s the rarest of butterflies. Judging by what Harry had seen of Baker’s territory, and the condition of the flat Merlin described it is possible that this is the most cash Eggsy has ever had for himself. 

Eggsy tucks the wad into his pocket, probably thinking Harry will change his mind. He won’t. Despite his career path, Harry has always been invested in fairness. Catch more flies with honey and all that. And he needs Eggsy’s loyalty. Yes, Eggsy is invested in this going well so that in the end days his family will be safe but he isn’t going to go above and beyond unless he sees that his employment can last beyond that.

“Thanks.” Eggsy says and jams both his hands into his jeans pockets.  
“You’re welcome.”  
“That all you needed me for? To get payed?”  
“Primarily yes. However, I do have an upcoming task for you.”

Eggsy slides into what Harry has started to think of as ‘Eggsy’s chair’ and settles in for the assignment.

“We just received word that the wife of a prominent member of the community has hired a private investigator to look into her husband.”  
“If you’re gonna ask me to pose as the PI then I’m gonna have to turn you down. I’m a thief, not a spy.”  
“How are you at climbing?”  
“I free run.”

When Harry just gives him a puzzled look, Eggsy grins. When he smiles Harry can see how the plan to infiltrate Fredericks’ home was so successful. That grin is devastatingly charming.

“Parkour?” Eggsy offers.  
“Ah. So you jump off of perfectly good rooftops for fun.” Harry says dryly.  
“Pretty much yeah.”  
“Good. There have been rumors that this man is having an affair. We can deal with the PI later but we want you to find the proof. The easiest way is to take photos of everyone he is with which involves climbing to vantage points where you can’t be seen.”  
“Still seems like more stalking than thieving.” Eggsy points out.  
“The skills transfer easily enough. Getting into places where you can’t be seen, finding what you shouldn’t. You may need to break into a home along the way.”  
“I’ll do what I can. No promises.”  
“Very well. I suppose that is fair.”

*

It turns out that surveillance is fucking boring. Eggsy spends half his day holed up inside a coffee shop near the target’s place of work. There aren’t any abandoned flats to crouch in which makes getting photos like Harry wanted difficult. He has to keep pretending to work on something on a laptop so that the baristas don’t get suspicious. Only no one leaves the building all day, even on lunch breaks. So they must not be taking new clients out to business. 

It is a pain in the ass, literally. By five Eggsy’s ass is numb from sitting. 

Thankfully at five o’clock the target leaves the building for the day and Eggsy is able to pack up. This presents a new challenge since he walked to the coffee shop to begin with, and the target is driving away. Eggsy also has no idea where the man is headed. He warned Harry he wasn’t a spy.

He walks into the building the target vacated just as the receptionist is packing up to leave. She can’t quite hide the irritated expression on her face as he enters. No doubt she’s ready to go home at the end of a long week.

“Is there any chance Mr. Wright is still in?” Eggsy asks, doing his best to sound like he is out of breath.  
“No. He just left.” the receptionist says curtly.  
“Fuck. I’ve been trying to contact him for ages. He won’t return any of the emails I sent asking about an interview.”  
“I can make a note. What publication is this for?” the receptionist asks, clearly trying to push Eggsy out the door.   
Fine by him. The more desperate she is, the more likely it is for her to slip up.  
“I wouldn’t want to trouble you. If he’s just left is there any chance you might know where he’s going?”  
“On Fridays he and some of the other men of the office will go to the Firkin Pub over on fiftieth.”  
“I know exactly where that is. Thank you. Thank you.”

Maybe he is cut out for spying after all. Next stop is the pub. Home terf. Easy to navigate. There just better be something incriminating for all the trouble he’s gone through. He’s operating outside of his wheelhouse and Harry better be grateful.

The pub is smoke filled and crowded. It’s almost impossible to even see Mr. Wright, let alone capture incriminating photos of him. Eggsy finds a dingy corner booth at the back of the pub and is at just the right angle that there’s a big enough window between people to get photos.

So far Mr. Wright seems like every other white collar business manager Eggsy has ever seen. Old, male, white, proudly slurring support for Theresa May despite her impending retirement. He’s obnoxious. Eggsy is half hoping that the man does something incriminating just for him to be knocked down a peg or two.

After his third pint, Mr. Wright seems to decide that it’s time for home. He isn’t drunk exactly but he probably shouldn’t be driving. Of course that doesn’t stop him. He stumbles out to the car, keys in hand, and climbs in. As Eggsy watches, Mr. Wright turns the key in the ignition and steers his over-priced sports car towards home.

Eggsy decides to call it a night. He doubts anything groundbreaking is happening now. Tomorrow is saturday though, maybe his luck will change then. 

Eggsy ends up tailing the guy for a week before anything exciting happens.

It’s on another one of those obnoxious pub nights. Mrs. Wright is out for the weekend, something about a sick mother in Peterborough. As a result Mr. Wright seems to be going extra hard at the pub. He’s not only downing pint after pint he’s thrown in some shots for good measure. By the time he leaves he is well passed drunk and well into seriously fucked up. Thankfully, he had the good sense to call a cab this time.

Eggsy trails him home. There may be nothing to it but the way Mr. Wright was acting it seems like it could be a celebration. Eggsy is interested to see if that carries over to home as well. Mr.Wright fumbles his key into his lock and stumbles inside.

Through a gap in the floral sitting room curtains, Eggsy can see he is on the phone with someone. He’s across the street from the row house though so he can’t hear what’s going on. Mr.Wright dissapears for a moment and then returns to the sitting room, this time drinking what appears to be a gallon jug of water. Trying to sober up? Eggsy hopes it’s water at least, because the alternative is milk and that would just be too gross even for him.

After about ten minutes of Mr.Wright drinking water and doing jumping-jacks to clear his head, Eggsy is about ready to give up. Then a shitty grey toyota corolla pulls up in front of the Wrights’ home. It parks and a young man a bit older than Eggsy climbs out. He walks up to the door without hesitation and knocks. 

The door swings open on Mr. Wright who is standing there, huge smile on his face. He greets the young man on his doorstep and then guides him inside by the elbow. Eggsy is so caught up in trying to figure out the mystery of what is going on, he almost forgets to get a photo of what is happening. He manages to get one right before the door closes.

Stationed across the street, he can’t see anything going on inside so he looks for an alternative. The Wrights have a tree in their backyard that overlooks a second story window. That is probably a better vantage point than standing all the way across the road so Eggsy goes for it. 

He darts across the road and uses the momentum to carry himself up the brick wall around the edge of the garden. His hands catch on the rough brick at the top and he hauls himself up so that he is standing on the edge. He walks along the top of the wall until he reaches some of the low hanging branches of the tree. From there it is fairly easy to maneuver his way up until he is perched in a V where two branches come together.

The tree overlooks a window into a bedroom. It is pitch black but the door is open and he can see across the hall into the bedroom across from it. The hallway light clicks on and it illuminates Mr. Wright and the young man. Both are halfway undressed and judging by the frenzied motions of their hands, they’re trying to strip completely. Eggsy gets his camera out and starts taking photos. Mr. Wright must do something because the young man momentarily separates and asks loudly enough that even Eggsy can hear it through the closed window, “Are you drunk?”

Mr. Wright calms the young man down and the disappear into the bedroom, out of range of Eggsy’s camera.

Silently Eggsy inches his way back down the tree. When his feet hit the brick wall, he hops down and starts the long walk back to Harry and Merlin’s. This is why he wanted to be a thief, not a spy. Stealing is easy, you just grab what you’re looking for and go. When you’re a spy you get tangled up in people’s personal lives. 

On one hand, Mr. Wright is a hypocrite and a liar. He’s advocated for several conservative politicians, most of whom “don’t agree with the gay lifestyle” and on top of that he is cheating on his wife. On the other, Eggsy knows it’s easy for brains to get things twisted. He’s spent enough time being shamed by Dean to know that. He doesn’t want this to be another thing that can be added to the conservative backlash either.

He still hasn’t decided what to do by the time he gets home-- not home, Harry and Merlin’s. Home base. He unlocks the door and the couple are sitting in their spots in the living room, doing their usual nightly reading.

“Any luck lad?” Merlin calls without looking up from his book.  
“Dunno.” Eggsy answers honestly.  
“Dunno? How could you not know whether you found something incriminating?” Harry asks  
“I mean… I found something but I don’t… know if I.. want to give it to you.” Eggsy admits.

That draws the attention of both men. Merlin sets his book down without a bookmark which he never does. Harry sits all the up off the back of the sofa which he only does in meetings.

“That isn’t your call to make Eggsy.” Harry says darkly. For the first time since making the deal with the devil, Eggsy starts to sense the it lurking.  
“Look I know. It ain’t like I want to go back on my deal it’s just… How likely do you think this bloke is to give in to blackmail?”  
“Why does that matter?”  
“I found evidence if an affair but it’s a bit sticky. I don’t want it getting spread around and used to shame people who ain’t even involved.”  
“Oh for fucks sake lad. I am tired, just tell us what ye found.” Merlin says rubbing his forehead.  
“Mr. Wright’s sleeping with another man.”  
Harry’s face changes from dark to understanding, “And you’re worried it will be added to more of the vitriol spouted by politicians who claim we can turn people gay with our contagion and are all lying demons who make people cheat?”  
“Pretty much yeah.” Eggsy admits

The sitting room falls silent for several minutes after that. Merlin and Harry are doing that silent conversation they always seem to do. Eggsy has to wonder if they are weighing the benefits versus the harm like he did on his way ho-- back. Surprisingly it is Merlin that breaks the silence.

“Frankly lad, it is very kind of you to be so loyal to our community, but no amount of being well behaved is going to change their mind about you, me, or any of us. Besides, it is likely he will cave and this won’t be exposed. If it does indeed get exposed, we will have the reporter focus on the affair aspect not the gay. Does that satisfy your conscious.”  
“A bit,” Eggsy says and hands over the camera, “figured just cause we were the bad guys don’t mean we have to be bad _guys_ you know?”  
“You are full of surprises.” Harry says and starts flipping through the photos on the camera, “Considering you’ve never done blackmail work before this is impressive. Although I think perhaps thieving does not translate as directly to spying as we thought.”  
“Oi. What does that mean?”  
“Just that the blackmail photos that have been taken of us in the past were a bit less fuzzy. Really though Eggsy, you have been quite a boon to our organization. That’s what? Four hits in the last two months?”  
“Something like that.”  
“We made the right decision to make that agreement with you.”


	4. Chapter 4

Eggsy opens the door to Harry’s office. Merlin and Harry are together behind the desk, heads bowed over a stack of documents. Eggsy tosses the file onto the desk with a smile.

“What’s this?” Harry asks as he picks up the folder.  
“Those tax records you wanted.” Eggsy answers simply.

The look of surprise spreading across the men’s faces give Eggsy a little thrill in the pit of his stomach.

“Ye didn’t need to pilfer these for another week.” Merlin says, astonished and abandons his current task to starts rifling through the documents presented.  
“Yeah but tonight is Daisy’s birthday. Weren’t going over there thinking about work when I knew I could get it done.”  
“Well. You’ve definitely earned the night off,” Harry says eyes still tracking the information, “Jesus. You’ve earned a week off at this point.”  
“He’s definitely smuggling tax payer money by the way. Heard him admit it when I was poking around. Proof should all be in there.” Eggsy says and gestures to the file.  
“Thank ye, Eggsy. Tell Daisy we say happy birthday.”  
“Will do, mate. See you both later yeah?” Eggsy winks at them and leaves the office.

*

“Did… did he just strut?” Harry asks faintly.  
“I think he did,” Merlin says with a small chuckle, “Seems like your plan was maybe a bit too effective. Lad thinks he’s hot shit.”  
“Frankly I think he might be too.”  
“Were ye looking Harry? Should I be worried?” Merlin teases  
“Darling. Do shut up. I have seen you admiring him as well.” Harry fires back.

Merlin starts reading the documents in earnest. Eggsy was right. All of the proof is practically spelled out in big bold letters. How the lad managed to get this is beyond him. The plan was to go in next week when the target would be swamped with phone calls from constituents to try to boost numbers before the upcoming election. Eggsy managed to pull it off early without help. Maybe the lad really is hot shit.

Is cockiness truly cocky if it is earned? Perhaps the wink and strut were a bit much, no matter how well the newfound confidence rode on his shoulders.

“Baker was a goddamn fool to keep Eggsy on a leash,” Harry murmurs, “So focused on money and not on strategy.”  
“It will be his downfall eventually.”  
“That is possibly the sexiest thing you could have said to me.”  
“Really? That?” Merlin asks critically.  
“Okay. Maybe not. You do have some spectacular dirty talk.”

*

Eggsy opens the door to his old flat. It looks more or less how he left it all those months ago. Beer bottles, peeling paint, stains and all. His mum is propped up on the sofa, clearly drained. Daisy is toddling around the house, a fancy little party hat perched on her head.

Her face lights up when she sees Eggsy and she toddles over to him. She lets out a loud yell which sounds more or less like his name. He doesn’t worry too much about her not having it one hundred percent considering some adults say it wrong.

Eggsy is just relieved that she remembers him. Ever since he moved it’s been difficult to find time to come visit. Each time he comes back for a visit he worries it will have been too long since he last saw her and she will have forgotten him altogether. 

He scoops Daisy up and presses a obnoxious kiss on her cheek. It makes her giggle. Eggsy carries her over to the sofa and collapses next to his mum. Up close she looks more exhausted than he left her.

“How you doin’ mum?” He asks and kisses her cheek too, although less sloppily than he kissed Daisy’s.  
“I’m doin’ just fine babes,” she says and squeezes his shoulder, “Been ages since you were around. Those friends of yours keeping you busy?”  
“Yeah. Something like that. Dean been treating you alright?”  
“Oh leave it babe. He’s just temperamental.”

Eggsy knows to bite his tongue at this point. He isn’t ever going to win this fight. He’s been fighting it since he was thirteen, he should know better by now.

“Can you believe Daisy is two?” Eggsy asks  
“No. Seems like just yesterday I was bringing you home from hospital all squishy and pink.” Michelle reminisces.  
“You doing okay taking care of her? I got a bit of money now. I could get you a nanny or something to make it easier.”  
“Don’t be silly. We are doing just fine.”

Eggsy drops that too. So far Daisy seems to be doing okay. His mum doesn’t have any bruises which is a first. Maybe it really was Eggsy’s fault that Dean was always kicking off about shit. 

“Well in that case I got Dais something special for her birthday.” Eggsy announces to Daisy.

She perks up again and twists in his lap so she’s balancing chest to chest with him. She’s so little but so fucking heavy. Eggsy has to shift her a bit so her little body isn’t pressing right onto a nerve.  
“Give me please?” she asks and holds out her hands.  
“Here ya go.” Eggsy says and pulls a funky looking plush dragon from his inner jacket pocket.  
Daisy gasps and clasps the bright blue and red thing to her chest, “Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome babe. Happy birthday.” he says and kisses her cheek.

She squirms a bit and Eggsy sets her back down on the carpet so she can run around the little flat, making her dragon fly around the room. It’s quiet except for her occasional roars. It is its own kind of peace, considering the flat was never quiet while Eggsy was growing up.

There’s not much to say now that Eggsy has given Daisy her toy. Coming back here after so much time away is nearly painfully awkward. He never quite realized how much was left unsaid between him and his mum. He shared more with Merlin and Harry, men who are technically his employers, than he ever did with her. Especially now that they aren’t in the trenches together anymore.

After sitting on the sofa in silence for probably fifteen minutes, Eggsy stands up. His mum looks up and offers him a weak smile. 

“You leavin’ already?”   
“Yeah mum. It’s getting late so I should get home.” Eggsy says without thinking  
“Home? Thought this was your home.” she says, her brow crinkling sadly.   
“Just a phrase mum,” he says quickly and presses a kiss to her cheek. He goes over to Daisy and scoops her up, swinging her about the room for a moment just to hear her squeal, “I’ll see you soon babe. Take care of your dragon for me.”

He leaves the flat, hands shoved deep in his pockets. When did Harry and Merlin’s become more of a home than his mum’s? Funny how two men who hold the fate of London in their hands care for him more than anyone else. 

He’s distracted by his own thoughts, and maybe he’s a bit complacent about being able to navigate the neighborhood around Harry and Merlin’s without any fear. He misses the tell tale sounds of someone following him. 

He’s slammed up against a wall as he rounds a corner. It knocks the breath from his lungs, and he can feel the cinder block material digging into his palms and neck. One of Dean’s goons has him pinned. How the fuck did he miss fucking poodle of all people? Bastard was a heavy breather. Rottweiler emerges from the shadows as well, ugly sneer plastered on his stupid mug. 

“Bit dramatic all this? If you missed me you coulda texted.” Eggsy quips  
“Dean wants to talk.” Rotty says  
“Yeah he coulda texted me too. He were smart enough to give us all burners weren’t he?”  
“Shut up,” Poodle snaps, “Dean thinks you turned tail on us. Heard you been cleaning up for Kingsman.”  
“And he couldn’t come here to ask me himself?”  
“Good to see ya Muggsy.” Dean says, emerging from the shadows just like Rotty did.   
“Shit!” Eggsy gasps, “That was like a fucking horror movie. What you want Dean?”  
“I want to know why you ain’t being an asset to our team. Why you’re suddenly pulling heist after heist for that Hart bloke.”  
“Because you traded me to them you prick now tell your m—“ the word muppets is cut off by Dean punching him square in the face. 

The lightning strike of pain arcs through his body. Once he can breathe his face still feels like it’s on fire. His nose isn’t broken. Eggsy prods his teeth with his tongue, none missing and none cracked. He got lucky. He might get away with a black eye. 

“Now listen you useless little shit,” Dean hisses, pushing his face up so close to Eggsy that Eggsy can feel the heat of his sour breath on his cheek, “We both know I traded you off so that you could be useful to our organization for once in your pathetic little life. I want information about Kingsman.”  
“Dean you know full well they don’t trust me with Jack Shit.” Eggsy lies. 

When the slap comes this time he’s prepared. He can feel his lip split under Dean’s meaty hand. If he can just get out of this without anything broken, he’ll count himself lucky. 

“It’s really simple Muggsy. You stop being a little cunt,” Dean emphasizes his point by jabbing a finger in Eggsy’s face, “and tell me what I need to know and then you can walk away.”  
“I get assigned to snatch documents for blackmail. I don’t know what they’re blackmailing for. I don’t know anything.”

Dean’s knee thuds into Eggsy’s stomach. The pain is less immediate than the pressure of the strike, it’s hard enough to make Eggsy sick up what little food he’s eaten today. He’s just glad he was working and didn’t have time to eat more because lying in even a small puddle of your own sick is upsetting. He must have hit his head on the way down because his skull is throbbing. 

Dean makes a disgusted sound and steps away, “You maggot. Fucking disgusting.”

He gives Eggsy one last kick to the stomach under the pretense of wiping off his shoe. Then he crouched down and gets into Eggsy’s face again. 

“Let this be a warning Muggsy. You come back to the block without useable information again, and I’ll kill ya. That simple.” He pats Eggsy’s cheek and then snaps his fingers so his mutts follow him away from the scene of the crime. 

Eggsy doesn’t even try to move for several seconds. He lets the initial wave of pain pass through, that’s always the worst. Once it’s dropped down to the ache he’s used to he does a quick check. He wiggles all his fingers, no breakage there. There’s a tear in his jeans from where he fell but other than a scrape there he’s good. Lip is swollen but he can breathe through his nose so that isn’t broken. He takes a deep breath and there’s pain in his side but it doesn’t seem to be a broken rib. Probably just bruised. He got off lucky. 

He drags himself up, he clutches at his stomach. Fuck who knew standing up required using your abs. He stumbles back out onto the high road. No cabs will come this way in broad daylight let alone at night. He doesn’t have Uber on his phone anymore either. Even if he did they would probably insist on driving him to hospital. He just wants to get back to Harry and Merlin. 

He takes a second to orient himself. Once he has his bearings, he pulls his snapback low over his face and zips his jacket up so the collar is up around his chin. Then he staggers in the general direction if the tube station. He taps his oyster card and makes his way down the stairs to the station itself. He props himself up on a bench to wait for the next train which will take him home.

The train screeches to a halt and he slips inside, finding the closest seat to the door without being close enough for people to get a good look at him. He catches a reflection of himself in the window opposite of him. The fluorescents make his purpling eye stand out by washing out the rest of his skin into a pale sickly grey. Harry and Merlin are going to be fucing pissed. They’re always going on about how they need him to be careful. Letting his friends down is worse than the beating.

The train comes to his stop. Time has started to warp and bubble around the edges. The tube ride seemed to last forever and end abruptly at the same time. He steps onto the weird tile floor of the stop closest to Harry and Merlin’s. From there he can sort of close his eyes and stumble instinctually out of the platform. He’s been here enough times over the last few months to know his way out.

The walk back to the house is long. The more he walks, the more he aches. He just wants to sit down but he knows once he’s down he isn’t going be back on his feet for ages. He needs to be back home before he does that. No dying on park bench thanks.

He finds Harry and Merlin’s and fumbles his keys out of his pocket. His depth perception is totally thrown off by his black eye. After several seconds he manages to jam his key into the lock and open the door. God something reeks. Belatedly, he realizes it must be him.

*

Harry can hear the door open and he waits for Eggsy to come in as usual. They’ve developed a little routine over the last few months. He and Merlin stay up in the sitting room having a night cap until Eggsy gets back. Then they pour a drink for Eggsy, discuss some business, and either chat or let Eggsy try to convince them to invest in a gaming system so that they can bond as friends by letting Eggsy kick their asses at Fifa.

Only there’s no Eggsy. That by itself isn’t worrying. On occasion will go free running with his friends or go for a jog before coming back so he’ll head for the kitchen first to get some water. However, what is worrying is that there’s no movement in the kitchen and in order for him to get to his room he would have to walk right by. Come to think of it, Harry isn’t sure he heard the door close.

“Eggsy?” he calls out. No response. At this point even Merlin has looked up from what he was doing, and generally he gets fairly absorbed.  
“Eggsy lad? That you?” Merlin calls out this time. Again their calls are met with silence.

Harry sets down the book he was reading and stands up. He grabs the hidden gun from the drink cart, then pokes his head around the corner into the front entryway. The door is still slightly ajar and Eggsy is sitting on the floor, back against the wall. Harry immediately holsters the gun.

“Eggsy? What are you doing?”

Eggsy lets out a soft whimper in response but doesn’t move. Harry’s heart rate kicks up a couple of beats. Something is wrong. Even when Eggsy came home drunk that time he was loud and (despite Harry’s position to not be taken with the young man) endearing, something is wrong. 

His blood runs cold as he starts to approach. There’s blood on the collar of Eggsy’s jacket and what looks like sick staining his jeans. The sight of bodily fluids isn’t what upsets Harry, he’s seen enough of them in his line of work. It’s that the bodily fluids are on and clearly from Eggsy. His lip is so swollen it genuinely looks like it might burst.

There is something horrifying about someone cocky and full of life being so knocked down that he literally can’t stand. Harry thinks he might have yelled Eggsy’s name because the young man manages to open his eyes and look at Harry.

“Didn’t mean to leave the door open. Just got tired.” he says softly.

Merlin must have heard Harry’s shout because he comes running. He comes to a halt next to Harry.

“Jesus fucking christ on a…” Merlin curses and then surges passed Harry so he can kneel next to Eggsy, “What happened lad?”  
“Dean were pissed because I weren’t spying on you,” Eggsy explains, “Sorry. I thought he went out with his mates.”  
“No apologizing,” Harry cuts in and crouches on the other side of Eggsy, “Come on Merlin. Lets get him upstairs.”  
“Guest room’s fine,” Eggsy tries to insist as Merlin and Harry wedge themselves under his armpits to get him to standing, “I’m covered in sick.”  
“Our bedroom is nearer to a bathroom. No arguments.” Harry says.

They half carry and half drag Eggsy up the stairs and they spread him out on the duvet, ignoring his protests about getting it dirty. Merlin workers on getting Eggsy’s jeans and shoes off while Harry runs into the bathroom. He soaks a washcloth in some water and a bit of hydrogen peroxide. By the time he gets back, Merlin has succeeded in removing Eggsy’s trousers and is now trying wiggle him out of his jacket. The jacket finally comes loose and Eggsy flops back against the bed again.

Harry comes over with the washcloth and methodically wipes off Eggsy’s face. Starting with cleaning his lip. Eggsy’s left eye is almost swollen shut, obscuring the usually cheeky blue. Lastly, Harry removes Eggsy’s hat. As he’s doing so, Eggsy stirs again.

“I’m sorry Harry. Didn’t know where else to go.”  
Harry strokes a thumb gently across Eggsy’s cheek and before he can stop himself he leans down and kisses Eggsy’s forehead, “Don’t worry about that now. Just get some rest.”

Eggsy nods, already half asleep and rolls onto his side. It isn’t long before he is sound asleep.


	5. Chapter 5

When Eggsy wakes the next day he is still on Harry and Merlin’s bed. He’s twisted up in awkward position on his side, no doubt trying to avoid putting pressure on his injured side in sleep. He untangles himself and rolls so he is flat on his back. 

As he’s laying there, letting the throbbing ache abate, it occurs to him that this is the first time he’s been invited into their bedroom. This wasn’t what he had in mind when he thought about getting invited in. It tended to involve more passion.

Harry comes in to check on him as he’s staring at the ceiling. He looks rumpled in a way Eggsy has never seen before. Like he may have stayed up all night.

“How are you?” Harry asks, coming to sit on the bed next to him.  
“Sore,” Eggsy admits and shifts around trying to get comfortable, “think I got some blood on your pillows.”

Sure enough there’s a blood stain smeared across the corner of one of the soft blue pillows from where Eggsy’s lip reopened in the night. 

“I’ll replace it.” he promises  
“Don’t be a fool,” Harry says and rests a hand on Eggsy’s leg as though he’s reassuring himself that Eggsy is still alive and kicking, “It was our decision to bring you up here. Besides I’ve always hated those pillows. I think Merlin might be color blind.”

Eggsy lets out a surprised laugh and immediately regrets it. His stomach hurts. There might have been more damage there than he wanted to admit to himself. 

Harry frowns at the pained sound that escapes Eggsy, “What’s wrong?”  
“Nothing Harry. Just got the snot kicked out of me. I’ll be okay.”  
“We take care of our team. You could not clearly be more a part of our team. What’s wrong?”  
“Got kneed in the stomach. Think it bruised.”  
“That explains the sick. Come on, shirt off lets get a look.”  
Eggsy grins crookedly at harry even though it tugs at his lip, “Trying to sneak a peek at me Haz?”  
“We’ve discussed the nickname on many occasions, I am not going to let it slide just because you took a beating,” Harry responds, “And as lovely as looking at your no doubt quite built shoulders would be, I am not going to take advantage of you being kneed hard enough to vomit to admire. Shirt off.”

Eggsy sighs and shifts himself up on the bed. Once he’s more or less propped up against the headboard he wiggles out of his shirt. Harry doesn’t react except for a slight twitch in his brows. The lack of response causes more concern from Eggsy than if Harry had lost his shit entirely. He glances down at his own stomach and he winces. A huge purple bruise spreads from just below his ribs to just above his pants.

“I’ll be back. Merlin had some medical training in the military. He’ll know if that needs to be looked at by a professional.” 

Harry stands from the bed and disappears from the room. Eggsy can just hear their muffled voices out in the hallway. A moment later the bedroom door swings open and Merlin enters with Harry.

“That looks like it hurts.” Merlin says  
“Not at all. In fact I can’t even feel a thing.” Eggsy jokes and Harry seems to relax minutely at Eggsy feeling okay enough to crack jokes.

Merlin shakes his head and walks over to the bed. He gently prods around the edges of the bruise. He seems to catalogue every twitch and gasp from Eggsy like he does when he’s working on some of the code he writes. His fingers are firm but gentle, assessing not poking.

“I think ye will be okay. Can’t feel any swelling and feels like your organs are all in the right place. If ye end up being sick again, be sure to watch out if ye throw up something that looks like coffee grounds. That could indicate internal bleeding.”  
“So maybe I should skip my usual breakfast of coffee grounds and eggs yeah?”  
“I am glad ye feel well enough to crack jokes but ye scared us half to death last night. Ye could at least not act like a cunt about it.” Merlin snaps.  
Suitably chastised, Eggsy pulls his shirt on and doesn’t quite meet Merlin’s gaze, “Figured you lot didn’t care this much. Thought you were just worried your cash cow would die without a replacement.”  
“Surely you know that at this point you know we care for you far more than that. We consider you a third in this household not just an employee.” Harry says  
“Know now,” Eggsy grumbles. “Sorry.”

Merlin cups the back of Eggsy’s head for a moment, and then kisses his forehead like Harry did the night before. Harry has always been freer with emotion than Merlin. So the forehead kiss means something. Eggsy just has to figure out what it means.

“Last night you said your step father did this to you. Is that true?” Harry asks.  
“Yeah. He was pissed that I wouldn’t grass about your organization. But hey, you lot are the ones going to keep Daisy safe and you’re the ones protecting me now and every time I bring in a haul for you. Weren’t going to grass just to protect my own skin. Will be a minute before I can go home to visit though.”  
Harry and Merlin exchange glances, and Merlin brushes hs knuckles against Eggsy’s cheek, “Thank ye for you loyalty lad. Get some rest. We’ll bring ye breakfast.”

*

“Harry! Good to see you! It’s been ages since you called a meeting,” James crows and pulls Harry in to kiss his cheek, “It’s good to see you too Merlin you old bastard.”

The last time James had tried to kiss Merlin on the cheek, he’d regretted it. He has a healthy sense of boundaries.

“I haven’t needed to call a meeting in ages, I wish we were seeing each other again under better terms.”  
“Right. Well we better get down to business then. You remember Percival,” he says introducing the serious man behind him, “And this is my niece Roxy.”

The blonde young woman with her slicked back ponytail steps forward and shakes Harry’s hand, then Merlin’s. Her grip is firm and already has gun calluses. She was meant to follow in the footsteps of her uncles.

“Shall we sit?” Harry suggests and they all take their seats at the dining table in the Morton home. A dark imposing thing that takes up the whole room.  
“What seems to be the problem. I hope it’s not between our groups. Our families have coexisted happily at the worst of times, and right now I would go so far as to say we are almost symbiotic.”  
“I would agree. I have no issues to discuss in the coexistence of our operations.”  
“Then why call a meeting?”  
“Last night the newest member of our team. One Eggsy Unwin. Went home to visit his sister for her birthday. At some point after leaving the flat he was attacked and beaten by his stepfather.”  
“That is detestable but I don’t see how we come into play here unless the man is in our territory?”  
“No. His stepfather is Dean Baker.”  
“You mean the fuck head who’s tearing apart the estates brick by brick?”  
“The very one.” Harry agrees.

James sits back in his chair. Clearly he is starting to put together what Harry is going to ask of him.

“You want me to help you take him down.” James surmises.  
“I want you to help me take him down.” Harry agrees.  
“I don’t know Harry, killing gets messy and there is no guarantee it might not blowback on innocent people which we agreed not to do.”  
“I understand. However, I do not want him killed. I want to remove his power through legal means,” Harry explains, “We all agreed to a… gentlemanly code of conduct if you will. It included minimizing the damage we do to innocents. In this situation, Eggsy was acting as an innocent. He was not in his stepfather’s territory as a spy and could not be mistaken as such as he did not run into Baker until after trying to exit. This gives us enough ground to remove him so that the Heskeths don’t kick up a fuss. The pricks.”  
“If we do interfere for you on behalf of your crush on this Eggsy bloke, what guarantee do we have? The Heskeths are all assholes and they might protest just to protest.” James points out.  
“I don’t know the full extent of Baker’s holdings but once he have him arrested we can see about divvying up his territory between us. You would of course have first pick since our benefit would be taking out someone who hurt one of our own.” Harry answers.  
“That seems fair. What did you have in mind?”

*

Eggsy is standing in the kitchen, eating cold pizza when Merlin and Harry get back from their meeting. He can’t tell if the meeting went well or not. Both men seem to be lost in their own thoughts.

“How’d it go?” he asks around a mouthful of pizza.  
“Well.” Harry responds cryptically.  
“Okay. Well don’t bore me with the details mate. Totally don’t want to know why you lot waltzed out of here without even stopping for tea this morning.”  
Harry’s mouth twitches in the way that means he’s amused and is pretending not to be, “We were meeting with the Mortons. We were trying to decide what is to be done with Baker.”  
“What do you mean ‘what’s to be done’ with him? You said you were going to let him collapse.”   
“Given your current state, we thought it pertinent to accelerate his collapse.”  
“You’re planning on taking him down.” Eggsy realizes.  
“Yes lad. Honestly Harry ye beat about the bush too much.” Merlin grumbles.  
“Bruv you can’t do this. You can’t take him down just because I got punched in the face. This is too much just for me.” Eggsy protests.  
“How have you not figured out that we would burn the world down for you?”

*

“Roxanne but you can call me Roxy.” she says and extends her hand to shake.  
“Eggsy.” he introduces himself and takes the offered hand.  
“I thought you were the one who got the snot kicked out of you. Although I thought you would look a little more…?”  
“More what?”  
“More like a twink if I’m honest.” Roxy says bluntly.  
Eggsy snorts and his eyebrows go up, “Really? You thought I’d be twink.”  
“Okay so maybe I was imagining this whole situation a bit more porny than it is,” Roxy laughs, “But you have to admit, two refined older gentleman welcoming a much younger man into their home and then trying to burn down the organization of the man who wronged him? It sound like the plot to a show on Netflix that is just an excuse to film tender sexing. And not defending yourself made me think you were less fit than you are.”  
“Well it ain’t like that. I don’t think. Besides, it was three against one,” Eggsy says, “So we’re working together yeah?”  
“So it seems. My uncles have been friends with Harry and Merlin for years apparently. They were calling in a favor that was owed.”  
“Right. So the plan is to get evidence of Dean being well… Dean. Goal is to sink him even if no one will testify.”  
“So it requires photographs, recordings if we can get them. Does he keep any records?”  
“He has to. No way can he keep track of the money in his head. Just don’t know where they’d be.”  
“Think it over. Should we head out then?” Roxy turns on her heel and heads for the door.   
“You’re going dressed like that?”  
She pauses, glancing back over her shoulder, “What’s wrong with what I’m wearing.”  
“Nothing but I’m pretty sure one button on your jacket is worth more than what people in that neighborhood make in a year. You go in dressed like that, you’ll get caught in thirty seconds.”

*

After a short stop at a charity shop to get Roxy kitted out properly, they head out. Even Eggsy is dressed down, leaving his more garish clothes at home. He knows Dean well enough that if he gets caught again, there will be hell to pay. No need to draw attention. 

“Right. Tuesday at two o’clock? He’ll be at the strip club by the McDonald’s.” Eggsy says and leads the way towards the north end of Dean’s territory.   
“I’m assuming that’s where one of his distributors is.” Roxy says, already preparing the camera she brought.   
“Put that away,” Eggsy says quietly, “His contact is actually the manager at the McDonald’s. Has to wait for him to go on break and the strip joint is a good place to hide out.”

Sure enough as they arrive, they can see the manager step outside. He’s a ferret looking man. Skinny, pointed nose, squinted eyes. His hair is greasy even from twenty feet off. He lights up a smoke a little ways off from the entrance. 

After a beat, Dean emerges from the club. He walks around the corner to the back alley and the manager does the same after waiting for a few seconds to divert suspicion. Once they’re both around the corner, Eggsy and Roxy move from their position behind a junket of a car. They go around the outer edge of the drive through rather than cut directly to the spot. They hover just around the corner from the back of the building, they can hear Dean but not what he’s saying. 

Eggsy peeks his head around the corner. There’s an industrial dumpster. The crouches down and nods to Roxy. They both creep around the corner so that they’re hidden by the dumpster. Roxy gets out her camera and starts taking photos. As added proof, Eggsy gets out his phone to film the whole thing. 

They spend several days like this. Roxy is practically invisible despite being an outsider. No one from Dean’s network pay her any mind because she’s a woman and since she’s with Eggsy she isn’t even a woman they can flirt with. 

They’re a perfect team. Eggsy knows Dean’s movements but no one recognizes him when he’s galavanting about London with Roxy. Roxy is insanely good with that camera but no one notices her. Together they are able to compile a veritable shit load of evidence against Dean. 

“Ye are doing incredibly well lad.” Merlin praises when Eggsy hands over the most recent stack of photos and recordings.   
“Still think this is a bit much just for me.” Eggsy says as he sinks into his chair.   
“Don’t be silly. As dramatic as Harry likes to be, we aren’t burning down the world just for you,” at the look Eggsy gives him Merlin amends his statement, “Okay a good deal of it is because you are a menace that has worked its way into our affections. Still, we would have eventually taken down Baker anyway.”  
“Still feels like I’m grassing on him. Feels wrong.”  
“He beat ye and, judging by that scar in your eyebrow, he’s done it on numerous occasions but you’re still worried about ratting him out?”  
“I hate the guy and I don’t care if he burns. But I spent my whole life protecting him, not because I was loyal to him but because I was loyal to the others like me. Poor kids who ain’t got much choice but to get pulled in by a man like Dean. I turn him in, those kids might get arrested too.”  
“Eggsy we—“  
“And don’t say ‘we can make sure that doesn’t happen’. You and Harry are smart. As much as you want to, flexing your power to get those poor sods outta lock up is too reckless for you.”  
“The easiest way to take him down without implicating the wrong people is to find his accounting documents,” Merlin sighs and runs a hand over his head, “I know ye said ye don’t know where he keeps them but that’s the cleanest route to the end. Any chance ye could think of a hiding spot?”  
“He’d probably keep it in the flat where he can keep an eye on it, wouldn’t want the information in the wrong hands. I don’t know where though and I can’t risk being in the flat for a long enough to investigate. Dean catches me and I am toast.”

Merlin sits back in his chair. He thumbs through the photos absently, a far away look in his eye. Eggsy has spent enough time in close quarters with him to know that it means he’s thinking. He just needs to wait out Merlin’s thought process. So far the wait record is half an hour. This time is only about fifteen. Still it is long enough that Eggsy starts scrolling through instagram on his phone.

“What if ye weren’t alone?”  
Eggsy sets down his phone and looks at Merlin, “I’m listening.”  
“Ye and Roxy work well together. James has reported ye get on like a house on fire.”  
“Yeah. I like her. Cooler than I could ever hope to be.”  
“We send Roxy in as a charity volunteer. We can have her stand on the corner and keep track of the street. Dean comes along she can delay him long enough for ye to get your ass out of there.”  
“How’d she let me know if I needed to bail?”  
“She could keep you on speaker phone and have code phrase for if she sees Dean.” Merlin offers.  
“I don’t know. Comes close to when I was trying to get information on Mr. Wright and I was shit at that.” Eggsy points out.  
“It’s still thieving which is entirely in your wheelhouse. Ye are just stepping it up a bit. It’s a heist instead of a straight break and remove.”  
“Alright. Has to be a time when Daisy and mum are out too. Usually they leave the flat on Sundays to go to church. Daycare services give mum some time off.”  
“Sunday it is.”

*

Eggsy waits patiently across the street. At eight thirty the door ot the flat opens and Michelle hustles out with Daisy strapped into her stroller. Once she’s down the stairs and around the corner, Eggsy makes his move. He jogs across the street and up the stairs. He turns his key in the lock and steps inside. The door closes behind him, cutting off the noise of the street below.

“I’m in.” he says into the mic on his headphones. He gets a hum from Roxy to indicate that she’s heard him. After some workshopping, turns out earbuds were a better choice than speaker phone.

Eggsy makes a methodical sweep of the flat. He save his old room for last because he is fairly certain Dean wouldn’t move his hiding spot. There’s nothing under the ratty sofa in the sitting room. Nothing underneath the loose floorboards either. He checks between the wall and the radiator. No luck.

He checks the kitchen next. No hidden panels in the cupboards. Nothing tucked in the freezer. Same with the oven.

He can hear Roxy chattering at someone asking them to sign her petition. Once the person brushes her off, Eggsy asks “How we looking out there?”  
“Crystal clear.” Roxy responds.

The next stop is his mum and Dean’s room. Eggsy has basically never set foot in it, at least not since Dean moved in. He made the right decision. If the living room was a disaster area it is nothing compared to the bedroom. Dean has shed dirty laundry all over the place and the carpet has stains that are better left unexplained.

There’s nothing under the bed. The drawer in the bedside table is actually completely empty. There’s not even any detritus. Eggsy sets his nails into the seam at the bottom of the drawer and the edge. It peels up but there’s not another compartment. It just exposes the runners.

He goes to the closet next. There’s another pile of laundry on the floor. As far as hanging clothes it’s pretty sparse. There’s a few dresses he vaguely remembers his mum wearing when his dad was alive. There’s a shoebox at the top of the closet and Eggsy is just tall enough to nudge it off the shelf. It lands in his hands and he almost drops it. Far heavier than if there were shoes in it.

He pops the lid off and resting inside is a tablet. He picks it up and presses the power button. It turns on and asks for a passcode. Eggsy punches in a code. He’s bought Dean lotto tickets enough times that he knows which numbers Dean likes. The code is wrong so he restarts the tablet so he doesn’t get locked out. On his fifth attempt he gets the code right. There’s only one application; excel. This is definitely what they’re looking for. 

Eggsy shoves the tablet back into the box and puts it back onto the shelf. He isn’t sure how long gathering the information will take. He’d rather not have Dean get suspicious and come after him in the meantime.

He jogs back down the stairs and Roxy follows after him about a minute later.

“No luck?” she asks  
“No I found what we were looking for.”  
“Great! Where is it?”  
“I left it up there.”  
“What?” Roxy asks and grabs Eggsy by the elbow so he is forced to stop walking, “Why did you leave it?”  
“Dean’s going to get the tablet out and it might take ages for police to verify everything we’re turning in. We can’t have him coming after my family when he figures out it’s missing. I’m going to go back with one of the old tablets Merlin doesn’t use anymore and make a swap.”

*

It is the dead of night when Eggsy returns. He has one of Merlin’s old tablets stuck into the waistband of his jeans. He unlocks the door and listens. Dean is snoring, dead to the world on the sofa. Eggsy closes the door behind him silently. He creeps into the bedroom where his mum is tucked up in bed also dead to the world.

He eases the closet door open and slips the box down from its shelf. He pads back out into the living room, snagging Dean’s wallet from the floor as he goes. Then he eases into his old room and gets to work, there’s years worth of spreadsheets backed up on the original tablet. Eggsy replicates the current year’s information. He doesn’t have time to be more thorough and Dean isn’t the brightest when it comes to tech. He probably won’t even know or he’ll chalk it up to a technology glitch.

Once that’s done, Eggsy places the fake back into the shoebox and puts the lid back on. Then he opens Dean’s wallet. As expected there’s a lotto ticket and a receipt. Eggsy takes those and tucks them in his pocket. He tucks the original tablet into the waistband of his jeans. He places the shoebox safely on the shelf and leaves without anyone knowing what was done.

*

“I’m glad you brought the tablet but explain to me why you stole the lotto ticket and receipt.” Harry says as eggsy sets everything on the desk.  
“Code is one of his usual lotto combos. Figure we can put a sticky note on the tablet with the code on it, and then the lotto ticket will prove it’s a number Dean uses and the receipt has the store name, date, and his card info on it. The filth will be able to look him up.”  
“You are always a step ahead my boy.”

*

“So let me get this straight,” the man says, looking between Merlin and Harry, “You want to hire me to run an investigation that’s already been done.”  
“Yes. We have all the evidence you need but without a proper declaration of service you might be accused of stalking. PIs are still subject to the law,” Harry says, “We will of course pay you the fee you would have received for six weeks of services and you will have our deepest gratitude in the future.”  
The PI blows out a sigh but the writing is on the wall, “Alright then. I can do that for ya.”

*

“That investigator bloke gone?” Eggsy asks as he strolls into the office.   
“Just left as a matter of fact.” Harry says and drops a quick kiss on his lips.   
“So now what?”   
Merlin pushes himself up from the desk and drops an arm across Eggsy’s shoulders, “Now we wait for the pieces to fall in.”


End file.
